It’s surprising how many small and medium business owners are sabotaging their own marketing efforts and impacting the profitability of their business. When it comes to marketing there are some simple mistakes to avoid if you want to get the results you want.
No Marketing Plan
Without a plan you don’t have the focus or direction you need to optimise your marketing efforts and reap the rewards. Take the time to have a customised strategic marketing plan developed and put in place. A marketing plan is an investment that will keep you on the right path for years, but only if you follow it! Your company will benefit from having a planned, purposeful process in place to market your products/ services to potential and existing customers. If you have a marketing plan and haven’t been referring to it – dust it off, read it and get refocused. Your marketing plan will help you work out your next steps and keep you focused on your objectives and goals. Make sure you drill down on it and develop a schedule of marketing activities that you can action, review, update and work your way through. Lastly once you have a Marketing Plan in place you need to give it time to work – at least 6-12 months to see what is working and to allow your marketing to build momentum.
Mixed Brand Messages
Don’t underestimate the importance of your brand. It’s easier than ever now to get your brand infront of a wider audience with the various social media platforms available, but the challenge is to ensure that the messages you send out are clear, strategic and consistent every single time to gain share of mind. What does the content you’re creating and curating say about your business? Does it have a clear message that is consistently reinforced each time? What tone of voice are you using – fun and carefree, professional and knowledgeable? Each piece of content you post or publish is a reflection on your brand and needs to be aligned with the core values of your company.
Not Having a Clearly Defined Target Market
Have you got a clear picture in your mind of your ideal customer? Defining your target market is an important step in the marketing process. By marketing to the people who are most likely to buy from you, you stand a much better chance of attracting the type of customer you really want – those who are looking for what you’re selling.
Not Having a Defined Unique Selling Proposition (USP)
It’s important to stay focused on your core business offering/s. What is it about what you sell that makes your business unique? Your point of difference needs to be highlighted in your marketing to ensure that you stand out from the crowd and attract the customers you want. Don’t make this about you though make sure it addresses the prospect’s pain points and how it benefits them. The prospect always wants to know the WIIFM – What’s In It For Me?
Not Tracking Your Results
How will you know which marketing activities have worked well, which ones need to be tweaked and which ones need to be scraped if you don’t measure the results? Each marketing activity should align with an objective – more brand awareness, more leads, more sales, increased website visits, etc. There are many great analytics tools to help you track your marketing activities and their effectiveness including free ones like Google Analytics so work out how you are going to measure before you start a campaign and get the tracking in place.
Don’t be put off by the vast amounts of data you can access, just focus on the metrics that matter to you – those that will let you know if you’ve achieved the objectives you set for the activity. By avoiding these 5 common mistakes you can ensure that you won’t sabotage your own marketing efforts. Instead you’ll be enjoying the ROI of marketing activities that really work. Follow your marketing plan, have clear brand messages, define your target market and unique selling proposition and track your results.
